Wrong Direction
by Queen-morganalefay
Summary: Rated PG13 for language, situations, and the rest of the usual stuff. An AU fic. When the teens have led messed up lives, landing them in a reformatory school, will they find redemption for their crimes?
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: My first AU fic. YAY!!! All characters, as always, and as stated in my profile, belong to DC and Cartoon Network and all of those wonderful people. The beginning lyrics belong to Jet, from the song Cold Hard Bitch.

* * *

Gotta leave town

Got another appointment.

Spent all my rent

Girl you know I enjoyed it

Same old song playing on the radio. Same teenagers blasting it for the world to hear, driving too fast down the highway in the cherry colored Mustang convertible. They were testing their limits yet again, living like gods of the nightlife. No fear, no worry, no regret, just music and stolen beer. They were kings in their own right, and the world was their castle.

Tim settled father back into the leather seat of the hi-jacked vehicle, trusting the wheel to Cy. His friend had had his eye of the ride for weeks on end, and neither of them had the serious cash to go through the honest way. What was so wrong with taking the easy way out?

He ran a few long, thin fingers through his thick black hair as they stopped at a red light next to a car with a couple of cute girls. Cy glanced over at him and laughed.

"Give it up, man. You must be really smashed to think any chick would fall for your looks."

"Shut up, Victor," Time shot back as his best friend started to grin.

"Only if you stop primping Timo.."

"Shut-it!" Tim punched the African-American lightly, who started laugh even harder.

"Dude, that was so weak! You're holding back on me, aren't ya, tough guy? No way could that girly cheap shot be yours…"

Tim glared nonchalantly at his best friend and popped the cap off of another bottle of beer. It was late, probably past midnight, and their parents were probably up waiting for them. Or at least Cy's parents would be up waiting for him. It would be a miracle if Tim's father was even home, as it was always a miracle if they got the time of day from that man. He was the do-gooder in the family…do good for the world but leave your family behind. So Tim had reconciled, thinking maybe it would be better if you just didn't give a damn, then you wouldn't end up hurting people by trying to help others.

It took both of them several seconds to realize the location of the screaming sirens, to see the flashing blue lights in the rear-view mirror. Tim shot Cy a look of horror, which the other returned readily. Time began stuffing the beer under the seat and crammed nearly a whole pack of gum into his mouth. Cy shook his head sadly at his accomplices attempts to cover up at least half of their crimes.

"Dude, we are so screwed. So, so, so screwed."

"Don't you think I realize that?!" The black-haired boy exclaimed in a panic. "Why'd you wanna steal that damned car anyways?"

"The same reason I wanted to screw up the governments computers or hack into out permanent records or feed a loop through the security cameras near that ATM or.."

"Okay, okay, I got it already! Jesus, Cy, dig our graves a little deeper, why don'cha?"

The tall, husky boy rolled his black eyes as he started to drive faster. "Yeah, you're completely innocent, Tim. That stunt you pulled at the CD store was certainly well played. And then ripping off all those kids on 'study aids', and all those explosives made with stolen synothium…"

"Will you please shut the hell up and drive a little fast?"

"Well if you're so talented you take the wheel!"

It was the same high-speed chase on an endless road to nowhere, adrenaline racing and curves taken at a mounting pace. The scene wasn't unfamiliar, both boys already on probation and still traveling in the wrong direction. It was a need to fill the empty hours that drove them to use their talents on villainy, though neither would admit how much it hurt when their mothers would cry over them. Maybe it wasn't a need to fill the empty hours…maybe it was a need to fill the emptiness itself, to stop whatever was left of their conscious. Maybe it was a need to spurn their fathers…maybe it was a need to be unstoppable.

A police car shot in front of the convertible, causing Cy to jerk the wheel, almost rolling, but instead finding himself barricaded by a horde of cops. He slammed his dark skinned fist into the steering wheel in aggravation. "Damn!"

Tim sank lower in his seat with a sigh as the chief of police began calling them out of the car, an officer already reading them their rights.

* * *

Tim lay awake that night, straining to block his parents' discussion from him. Parts of it floated up the stairs, fragments that made his anger grow stronger.

"…broke his probation…police said reformatory school…for the best…"

He rolled out of his bed and slammed his door forcefully, diving back into his pillow and clenching his fist. When did his parents start caring so damn much? They were never there, and suddenly they were in the kitchen discussing his future like they had been there every step of the way.

Well, there was only one thing for it. He'd have to leave before they could haul him off to some God-forsaken place. Tim got up again and pulled open a drawer, dumping the contents of his book-bag out and studding it with clothes and whatever funds he could find. He was just struggling with the window latch when a timid knock sounded on the door. His mother opened the door slowly, tucking her dark hair behind her ear in a nervous habit. Her grey eyes, identical to Tim's, scanned the mess on the bed on the pack slung over Tim's shoulder for several long seconds before she spoke in her normal quiet voice.

"Pack properly. We're taking you to Gotham at daybreak."

Tim glanced at his bedside clock that read 5:30 a.m. He only had an hour, maybe tow, before his parents would ship him off. He snapped his gaze back to his mother. Tim's voice was cold and harsh.

"I'm not going to Gotham."

"The hell you aren't." Came his father's voice, who had just appeared in the doorway. "You heard your probation officer. You don't have a choice, so you better start packing."

His mother began to speak, her eyes pleading. "It won't be so bad, Tim. Victor will be there."

Tim issued a slight growl and started pulling the clothes back out of his bookbag, pulling out a suitcase and stuffing the clothes haphazardly inside. He could feel his father's angry eyes on him, wanting to say more, just as Tim was biting back a thousand sardonic comments. Finally the heavy silence was broken.

"Don't you realize you're throwing away your future?'

Whatever restraint that held Tim back snapped instantly, and he turned to glar forcefully at his father as he spoke.

"Do you mean I'm throwing away the future you made for me, Dad? Inherit the company, get rich, marry some stuck-up chick and make your name stand out? Screw that, I'm outta here. I'm your son, not your investment." He made his way to the door, but his father stopped him, his ice blue eyes glaring in a manner mirroring Tim's.

"You're right. You are. The police said you are going to have to stay at a Juvenile Hall near the reform school."

Time's dark eyebrows shot up. "For how long?"

"Six weeks." Came the answer. Tim stared at the man in front of him for several long minutes. Life was going to turn into a living hell.

Not that it was ever that good anyways.

* * *

She had mixed it so carefully, admiring how the aroma and color of the herb dissolved in the fathomless black of the tea, the herb almost making the liquid darker. A black drink for a black deed.

The Law of Three would hold her guilty, but her life had condemned her years before. The bruises marring her porcelain skin told of the curse, her frail frame seeming smaller by the dark clothes bent into a shy and beaten figure, instead of proud and tall. And it was his fault, wasn't it? Vengeance was deserved, right? Her mother couldn't deliver the redemption. He had her mother fooled, tricked into love, so Raven would have to change her fate. She would have to seal his father, before her own spiraled farther under the spell of the curse.

Many nights had gone into preserving and preparing the belladonna nightshade. It had to be perfect, almost undetectable, just as the bruises on her pale arms were almost undetectable; the dark shadows under her eyes were almost hidden perfectly by the heavy eyeliner. She was almost ashamed at herself by the pleasure she took in delivering the drink, watching him gulp it down drunkenly, waiting as the poison took effect. Maybe in some other way than their blood they were related. He loved to see her struggle against her pain. She loved to see him struggle against his death.

It was almost gratifying to hear her mother's scream as she discovered the body, the source of his death. It was almost justification to hear the piercing tones as he mother dialed for the police, explaining what Raven had done. It was almost anger that took her as she tried to understand why her mother was upset when she bore the same bruises.

The entire situation was sickening, twisted, wrong, malevolent, a thousand dark whispers rolled into one.

And that's why she let them take her away.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Okay, for those of you who don't know (because I didn't tell you in the first chapter) Tim (Tim Drake) is the equivalent of Robin, Cy (Victor Stone) is obviously Cyborg, Raven (Raven Roth) obviously Raven, Gar (or Garfield Logan) is Beast Boy, and Kori (Kori Anders) is Starfire. Now we're all clear on that.

* * *

Sunlight glanced off the building, repelled by the hard stones and cold gray countenance of the building's structure, by the fear and hatred it emitted in one second, one approach. If school was a demon for some, this was Lucifer himself, the ninth circled of hell.

Silence filled the empty courtyard, loud and overbearing. Tim's footsteps seemed muffled, empty, Cy's steps equally hollowed beside him. It was as if sound was forbidden, words outlawed, silence the law and disease.

Tim had been sizing up his escort for several long moments, knowing he could bring the guard who was guiding him toward purgatory down. The question was, if he did, where would he run? There was nowhere to go, nothing left to say. Fate had dealt him another losing hand.

The entrance hall of Gotham City Juvenile Hall was hardly welcoming. Metal detectors glared at them, intimidating from the doorway, gap appearing as a ravenous mouth that longed to swallow the two and spit them out again, proclaiming them worthless and weak. A high-pitched squeal emitted from the machine and Tim found himself being searched, the cause of alarm finally revealing itself: a penny.

Without further words, both boys were led to a drafty and dank dorm room. Cy and Tim were meant to share a space the size of a large closet occupied only by two thin mattresses supported by twin steel frames, matching bureaus sitting barren across the room. Cy threw his suitcase down and looked around the room in silent disgust. Tim voiced their cynical thoughts in his abrupt way.

"Home sweet home."

"For now, anyways." Cy corrected, sticking his shaved head out the door and glancing down the hall. "This place is deserted."

"Tell me about it. We must be the only two he…" Tim was interrupted by the sound of indignant yelling down the hall.

"Dude, that CD player is like, MINE!!! GIVE IT BACK!"

Cy and Tim looked down the hall to see a boy with blond hair yelling at an even shorter kid that had a sneering, pushed in face.

"Not a chance, you mucus crunchin' scum bucket!"

"That's not even a real insult!" The blond boy protested while making a swipe at the CD player, attempting to steal it back. The scene was comical, and became even more so as a girl that towered over both boys came up. Her seemingly endless amounts of red hair swung as she attempted to break the fight up.

"Please, friends, we must not start a battle. It would promote hatred and…"

"Why don't you shut up, Kori?"

"Don't tell her to shut up!" The blond boy shoved the other as he defended the red haired girl. Tim glanced over Kor, summing her up in a glance: beautiful, energetic, strong, but without a hint of grace. She was almost attractive, in a way, but there was something missing…

His mind barely registered the fact that Cy had joined the fray, at first as a peace bearer, now yelling at the boy with the sneering face over who was the better hacker.

"Gizmo? What kind of idiotic cyber name is that?"

"Better than Cyborg, you blood guzzlin' friggin' load of…"

"This is pointless. Arguing solves nothing." A monotone voice sounded behind Tim, bored and slightly annoyed. He glanced behind him to see the bearer of the voice, a slim, small girl, pale, with hair so dark it seemed to be indigo framing her thin face in short lengths. Amethyst eyes seemed to pierce the flesh and mind of all gathered there.

Tim felt captivated by those orbs, caught in the way they seemed to both absorb and reflect the light. No smile graced the girl's ashen lips, a stern expression her only hint of emotion. "If we are caught our stay here might be extended. It's best to remain calm."

"And if we don't want to…?" Gizmo questioned in a disrespectful growl. The girl's cold violet eyes surveyed him for several long moments before she spoke a quiet threat.

"No one would miss you."

Once the meaning had sunk through, Gizmo scowled and slunk off. The blond haired boy turned and grinned at the pale girl dressed all in black. "Way to go!"

"Yes! Excellent work at restoring the peace!" Kori added her praises gleefully. Briefly Tim wondered why the happy-go-lucky girl was here, then decided he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The girl with the dark hair, bordering violet, did not even show a twitch of a smile. She answered calmly, without feeling, as if she wasn't used to speaking informally. "The yelling disrupted my concentration, so I stopped it." She turned on heel and moved away, back toward her dorm. Tim watched her disappear behind the door of her room and then turned to the blond haired boy.

"Who's she?"

The boy shrugged, but Kori answered for him. "She is Raven Roth. I, by the way, am Kori Anders, and this is Garfield Logan."

"Dude, it's Gar."

"Tim Drake."

"Victor Stone. Call me Cy."

Introductions over with, Tim spoke of what had been puzzling him since entering. "I expected people here to be…you know…"

"Criminals." Cy finished for him. Gar began to grin and spoke in his MTV inspired way.

"Kori's dad, like, run's the place, so she lives here."

"And there are others who prefer more violence living in the other dorms of this building. They say we have it easiest in this section of the Hall." Kori added thoughtfully.

"Is that the truth?" Tim couldn't bear getting off easily if this is what this was. He lived for challenges, for adrenaline rushes, for things impossible.

Cy raised an eyebrow at his friend. "That depends on your perception of the truth." It was strange to hear something so philosophical escaping the boy's mouth. Then again, a lot of strange things had been happening.

Like those violet eyes that wouldn't leave him, burned into his mind.

* * *

Raven sighed upon entering her room yet again, though the line between room and cell was hard to draw. The day in court had written not only her sentence but the death of all she took interest in. Her reading was censored, bought items censored, radio preferences censored, TV programs censored, and if she was one to talk on the phone her conversations would have been censored as well. In short, she was a walking, breathing ban against personal freedom.

Hell if she regretted what she'd done, though.

Refusing to speak either in defense or confession at the police station or at court had earned her a cramped room with a thin door that let in all sound. Naturally the others occupying the building would be the kind she hated most: obnoxious, noisy, shallow, frivolous. Her memory kept flashing the grey eyes that had bored into her as she attempted to restore order. The boy had been gawking at her, almost in awe, but the remnants of a cocky nature lingered around him. Her brow gathered together in a light frown. Already she could tell he, whoever he was, would be a problem.

Unmarking the page from the book she had been concentrating on earlier, she began to pull her eyes across the page in a practiced motion, though the words were not being completely registered.

_…the night was thick and dark as pitch, hard traveling for my company and me… _

Dark like the liquid she had brewed. Dark like the night. Dark like his hair.

_…hard traveling for my company…_

No company for her. She preferred the silence that stretched from wall to wall, encircling the room. Company would mean talking, laughter, friendship, and all such things with Raven were impossible.

_…the night was thick and dark…_

Night was approaching steadily. Night was already upon them.

She closed the book silently as she deemed concentration unattainable, realizing she had been reading the same line over and over, something strange for her. Staring out the window, her gaze took in a full moon ringed by a halo of light, making it demonic and angelic, light and dark.

It would be another sleepless night.

* * *

Sorry if the second chapter was bad, but I had to get them to Juvenile Hall. Know that I'm making up everything about the Juvenile Hall and the Reform School as I've never been to one. If you don't like that, then deal with it. 


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Yeah, I know it's been ages upon ages upon ages since I updated. Sorry about that. And personally, I think this chapter sucks. For this story I'm having MAJOR writer's block. It sucks. Yeah. Read on, if you dare. But first, a few shout outs:

**Marvin-forever**: Thank you. But you may be severely disappointed by this addition.

**Teya Yashitoda**: lol. That's an interesting pen name…mean anything?

**EvilYellowCrayon**: Thank you for your support. Considering how little I normally get for a story, it means a lot.

**StarStar16**: Kelly, STOP GIVING OUT THE STORY!claps hand over friends mouth

**aubrey**: I know. Raven is celebrating currently by having a wit dual with Tim.

**Teen-Titan-Junkie**: Keep on truckin' like a truckin' trucker truckin'! I know, good AU fics are hard to come by. The case remains true. Yet again, bad bad baddy bad Tiffany. I been a bad girl. I wrote bad chapter.

Enough of my mindless mutterings. On with the show…er, fic.

* * *

If it hadn't been for the security cameras, Tim could have believed it was a normal cafeteria. Of course, there were a lot of things in the reform school to remind you it wasn't a normal school, and a lot of those things weren't subtly. It was things like metal detectors at every entrance, cameras at every angle, security guards, and kids gaining reputations by how malicious their crimes had been.

_All we're missing now are bars over the windows._ Tim thought grimly as he picked through the spaghetti that looked less like an entrée and more like something someone threw up.

"You okay, man? You look like someone left something dead in your food." Cy smirked at the statement as if he didn't doubt his assessment to be true.

"No, actually, I was just thinking…"

"About breaking out?" Cy's voice was eager. At the words even Gar looked up from where he was glaring at his food.

"If I ever think about anything different in this place, remember to commit me. Now, listen—"

"You're at our table." A gruff voice sounded behind Tim. He turned to see a boy about the height of Cy with a muscular build and more in need of a shave than anyone Tim had ever seen, flanked by a girl with, surprisingly, fuchsia hair pulled into low pigtails, and the short, bald, rude kid from before.

"You're at our table." The tall, brutish boy repeated as he saw Tim's blank stare.

Tim crossed his arms as one eyebrow subtly lifted. "I'm sorry. I never saw your names on the reservation list. Cy?"

Cy swiped a notebook from a girl that was sitting near them, flipped it open, and scanned it with the false air of a restaurant host. "No. There's no reservation for Freak, Idiot, or—"

"Care to go on with that sentence?" The fuchsia haired girl asked in a lofty yet dangerous tone.

Cy smirked. "No, my point's pretty clear."

"Guess it's time to make mine." The muscular boy growled, grabbing Tim by the collar of his shirt and jerking back his fist. Before the blow could be delivered, Tim ducked and head butted him, getting him to let go. Both Cy and Tim got to their feet, prepared for the next move as the muscular boy looked ready to strike again. However, the girl with fuchsia hair held out her hand to stop him.

"Save it, Manfred. We'll finish this another time." Her eyes darted to a security camera. The other looked in that direction and nodded, and then the tree walked off.

Cy sat down again. "Well, that was pleasant. Aw, look at that." He poked his fork at his meal. "My food's gone cold."

Tim glared in the direction of the departing three. "Cowards. I could've taken them."

"Cool it, man. I have a feeling you'll get another chance. In the meantime, let's focus on something important, like the fact that I'm still hungry and can't get decent food."

* * *

Tim looked around the empty office passively, wondering when something would happen. Not long after his run in with the three in the cafeteria, he had been called—no, forced into the administrator's office.

_Guess I get to meet Kori's dad now." _He thought grimly, wondering what they could possibly want with him. Security detail didn't care that much about a cafeteria brawl, and Cy had been left behind, not to mention the three drones.

Tim turned as the door opened. A tall man with dark hair and an Armani suit entered, walking toward the desk and sitting down. Tim raised an eyebrow skeptically as the man surveyed him.

"Have a seat, Mr. Drake."

Tim's voice was cold. "I'd rather stay standing. Nice suit."

The man ignored his comment. "My name is Bruce Wayne."

His surprise went deeper at the name. "You're not an Anders?"

"I run the school, Mr. Drake, not Juvenile Hall. I am not John Anders." He shuffled some papers on his desk in a bored manner as Tim looked on in impatience. It was almost as if this man was trying his hardest to get on Tim's last nerves, just for the sake of getting a reaction out of him. Eventually, after what seemed like the end of time, the man looked up, folding his hands in front of him in a polite manner. "I suppose you're wondering why you're here?"

"No shit, Sherlock."  
"Language, Mr. Drake." He began shuffling the papers again, speaking in a bored manner. "I received a phone call this morning from your father. Not long after, I received a similar call from the Gotham police. A decision was made."

"Get to the point."

"Patience." His gaze was steady, face blank, but you could tell he was amused. "Given you past records, your psychiatric report…both parties believe your rehabilitation would best be served in full time counseling."

Tim glared at him slightly. "Do you come with subtitles?"

"For the next six weeks, you will be staying at my home. It's already been court ordered."

"The hell I will." Tim turned on heel to exit the office, but the man's voice caused him to stop before leaving.

"You don't have much of a choice. We're both stuck in this experimental program, whether we like it or not."

_And I really don't like it._ Tim held back the comment as he exited the office.

* * *

It was one of the most ironic things Raven had ever seen, and she prized irony as her main form of amusement. Ten teenagers, all of whom were convicted for felonies, gathered in a room with a psychiatrist like a support group. Sure, there were guards and security cameras, but if she hadn't been a part of it, Raven would have laughed. Being in a room with a bunch of temperamental jerks and an absolute nuts that's profession was to help the mentally ill was not a situation to laugh at.

She jerked out of her thoughts as the ditzy psychiatrist turned to the boy with spiky black hair she had seen before.

"Now, Timothy—"

"Tim." He corrected in a short tone.

"Tim." She confirmed the name with a smile. "Now, just repeat the three phrases. I am, I want, I need."

He crossed his arms and glared lightly. "Okay. I am Tim Drake. I want you to shut up. I need some edible food."

Raven watched as Gar and the African boy dissolved into silent laughter. The psychiatrist seemed to notice. She swung around to Gar immediately, pouncing on him like he was prey.

"Gar, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"Yeah. That was _hilarious._" He started shaking again with laughter. A thin frown appeared on the psychiatrist's face.

"Perhaps you'd like to tell us how you feel about your crime? Any guilt?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "It was cruel how they were treating those animals!"

"Tell them about it, man. Keeping all those animals in cages." Cy said solemnly, shaking his head in mock horror.

"I would've made it out of the Zoo, too, if I hadn't fallen into the bear pit." He started laughing again, and Raven smiled, thinking of the blond boy trapped in an empty bear pit. Her small smile evaporated as the psychiatrist turned to her.

"Any thoughts, Raven?"

"You mean besides, 'This is stupid'?"

She saw Tim start grinning across the room. The psychiatrist didn't find it funny. A bell rang off in the distance before she could respond to Raven's remark. She stood with a sigh, and the security guards opened the doors.

"You're dismissed. Proceed straight to the bus. The guards will be watching our progress."

"She makes it sound like they've done anything_ but_ watch us today." Raven heard Gar whisper as everyone starting filing out. Raven was one of the last to leave, giving the guard an offhand glare before she left. She stopped when she saw Tim leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for here. She stopped to look at him skeptically, but he just looked back at her calmly with those cool gray eyes, a smirk on his face, as if something about her provoked him to stare.

"What, are you stalking me?"

"I see your wit isn't reserved for staff only." She noted he did not deny her accusation.

"You caught me on a good day. Free snide remarks for everyone."

"Lucky me." He smirked and fell into pace beside her as she started walking off. "So, what are going to do now that we're free from Nicholas Nickelby's prison?" As he mentioned the novel, she suppressed a smirk. She hadn't expected him to have read at all.

"We've got community service duty, remember?" _What'd he think I was going to be doing? Taking a nice, relaxing dip in the hot-tub? _Why was he following her? They had made it past the metal detectors and outside. Raven stopped abruptly as she noticed a limousine parked in front of the bus that went back to Juvenile Hall.

"What is that?" She caught a glimpse of his expression: like he had stepped in something.

"I think that's my ride." He started off toward it, but not before she could get in the last word.

"Lucky you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**Yes, it's been far too long since I worked on this. I'm trying to finish what I started on a few of my stories. God give me strength. Give me some reviews, and I may be able to continue.

* * *

"You can set your stuff down in the hallway." Tim made a face at the man behind his back as they entered the rather large apartment flat. He didn't make a move to set he stuff down, only started looking around the complex.

"Wow. The entire floor. In Gotham. You must be so proud." Tim's words echoed sarcasm in every syllable.

"This is only my temporary home. Coming from the manor everyday would be too far of a drive, and I own this apartment complex anyways."

"What are you, some kind of millionaire?" Tim scoffed.

"Yes, actually." He glanced up at Tim and smirked. "Would you like to put your things down, or would you rather carry it all evening?" Tim threw his bags in a corner, and Bruce nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, have a seat, Mr. Drake. There are a few rules I'd like to discuss with you." He waited for Tim to find a chair, but when it was obvious the teenager was going to refuse, he nodded and pulled up one of the kitchen chairs and sat himself. "Fine. You can stand. I can sit. But I highly suggest you listen."

Tim only gave him a nod to continue, and then Wayne started in with a barrage of demands.

"You will not interrupt me while I give these rules."

"And who are you to tell me what to do?"

The man smirked. "I am the one who governs whether you eat, where you sleep, and how hard you work for the duration of your sentence. It's in the courtorder that the therepy can be given in any way I determine suitable. Child abuse does not apply." This seemed to shut Tim up, mainly from shock, so Wayne smiled and continued.

"Now, may I start?

"You are not to leave this building without my accompanyment. You are not to be left alone in this building without me. Besides such times as bathroom use, you will not be left alone. You will sleep in a bunk bed I have brought in from the juvenile hall that has been placed in my bedroom.

"You will not skip meals. You will not be allowed knives, lighters, guns, daggers, swords, canes, pins, or anything else with sharp edges or that can be used as a weapon. You will not be allowed to drive anything. You will serve your community service time, as usual. You will do your schoolwork.

"All aquaintences will be approved of by me. All books, TV shows, websites, comic books, magazines, newspapers, ect will be approved of by me. You will submit all your bags to me at the end of the day to be searched." Wayne stopped to survey the ever darkening look on the boy's face. "I am not your friend. I am not your idiot. I am your disciplinarian. I will respect you if you respect me, but I don't believe you do. If your going to be a criminal, I will treat you like one."

"What about the others? Their there for crimes. Are they getting one on one people?" Tim spat between gritted teeth.

Wayne smirked. "Let's just say your the guinea pig. You're an interesting case, Mr. Drake."

"I'm a person. Not a case."

"No, you're neither. You're a criminal."

* * *

Gar snickered slightly behind his hand as he and Cy waited for that little bald idiot to turn the corner. Cy looked distrustful, as if this plan wasn't exactly a good one.

"Are you sure you saw him coming?"

"Of course! Dude, don't you trust me?" They had rigged some of the leftover school speghetti in a makeshift catapult made of rubber bands and elastic and very thin plastic blag. Gar was holding it back, waiting for footsteps. There were a few more breathless moments of waiting, and then echoes bounced off the hallways. Gar grinned and started to let go of the band, but Cy tried to stop him.

"Wait, Gar, there's more than one--"

Too late. The bag was flying and they heard one highpitched female yell of surprise and then another female giggle. Both boys looked at each other in a moments hesitation. Cy mouthed "let's run for it". Gar nodded and they turned to creep down the hallway quietly, but were met by the site of the fuschia haired girl covered in speghetti sauce and a blonde girl who was still trying to supress laughter. The fuschia girl's eyes were shooting daggers, her pale skin flushed. "Which. One. Of. You. Will. Die. Today?"

Gar flushed a serious shade of red, his blonde hair clashing with it. The blonde girl giggled and waved her hand. "Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! Garfield Logan, come on down!" She said with a slight laugh. Gar muttered something about 'shut-up Terra', but Cy intervened, standing from his crouched position and walking up to the fuchsia haired girl.

"Look, ya'll, it was just a misunderstanding. That thing was meant for someone else."

"Doesn't mean it's any less personal." She said with a snarl.

He smiled. "Look, we'll give you back your table, you get to slap him, and we'll let this slide."

She glared for several more seconds, but finally caved. "Fine." The girl proceeded to storm up to Gar and slap him hard, leaving a red hand mark on his already red cheek. Cy laughed, and the girl turned to give him a quizical look. "What? Don't tell me you thought I wouldn't go through with it."

"Actually, I was just thinking you're cute when you're angry."

"Don't push your luck, Stone." She said with a flat finality, and started to walk away, closely followed by the blonde. He took a few steps forward.

"Hey, wait, don't I get a name or anything?"

She turned, giving him a look that clearly said she wished to give him something more fatal than a name. "Call me Jinx."

Cy chuckled as she walked away, then turned and looked at Gar. "So...you were sure he was coming, were you?"

"Shutup." Gar shook himself back to normal and frowned. "Great. I got slapped and humiliated."

Cy smirked, seeing another potential area of threat in the open. "Yeah, and in front of...Terra, was her name? Who was she?"

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

Raven propped her chin in her hand as she tuned out the pointless "suicidal" teen that was complaining to her on the phone. This was community service? This was pointless. Whoever invented support hotlines was an idiot.

Of course, it was probably invented by the same person who invented support groups and juvenile halls.

Raven looked back on the little therapy session from earlier that afternoon. Tim had seemed to be the only one with a brain in there, and for once there was someone who wasn't afraid of her. This was more terrifying than it was intrigueing. She was thinking too much about the fact that he almost seemed to be seeking her out...and she didn't mind when he did.

And what was he? Some rich kid punk who took a pack of gum? And if he knew that she was dangerous, than he wasn't brave, he was just stupid. And if he didn't know yet and found out--well, if he was smart then he would back off.

Part of her told her that he had a nice smile. Another small part of her knew that she shouldn't even be thinking about him, because thinking about him was truely dangerous.

She was brought back to earth by the annoying buzzing in her ear that happened to be the sound of the other girl sobbing in her ear. "So, can you help me?"

"Um..." Raven wanted to laugh. She couldn't even help herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **It's me again! Yes, here's another chapter. I'm going somewhere, I promise! I'm going somewhere with this, I'm just not sure where...keep reviewing!

* * *

Tim lay quietly on the uncomfortable cot that Wayne had prepared for him. The digital clock within his line of sight illuminated the face of his temporary guardian--eyes shut, face calm and blank. Numbers on the screen read 3:30 a.m. Tim listened to Wayne's breath. It was deep. He hadn't moved for over an hour. Surely the man was asleep.

Slowly, almost imperceptably, Tim slid from the cot and crouched on the floor, waiting a moment before crawling toward the door that led to the hallway of the complex. He paused when he heard Wayne grunt in his sleep, waiting for a few heart-pounding seconds until the man rolled over and gave way to deep breathing again. Let out a soundless rush of air in relief, Tim continued his slow process to the door, turning the doorknob carefully and letting the door swing open quietly. He started to slip through the doorway, but the carpet didn't catch the wood of the door. It swung back, about to hit the wall. He made a wild dive for it and caught it just before it hit the wall, listening to the small thud it made as it brushed the wallpaper. Standing now, listening intently for any clue that Wayne had heard, Tim waited a few seconds and then carefully let the door go. He started a brisk but soundless walk down the hallway, moving through the makeshift livingroom and finally toward his window to freedom--the door leading to outside the flat. His hand undid the first chain lock, then the deadbolt, and rested on the doorknob, waiting to turn it and let himself loose--

"I expected more from you, Mr. Drake." Came a voice from behind him, in the doorway of the bedroom. He turned slowly to see Wayne there, smirking, wide awake. "Sure, you managed to make it to the door. But no provisions? No money? You didn't even attempt to steal the keys to my car." He shook his head in mock shame. "You're going soft. I thought you were supposed to be a thief or something."

_How the hell did he?_ Tim stood there gaping for a few seconds. Wayne must have watched him the entire time. How could that man fake sleep so well? He thought his eyes were closed. And why let him get that far and then stop him?

Wayne eyed him with raised eyebrows. "Apparently you're not as smart as they all think, judging by how you're staring at me. I told you, Mr. Drake, I would monitor you. Did you think I wouldn't expect an escape attempt? And if you did make it out, do you think I could not find you?"

Tim frowned. "I promise you, if I escaped, it would be many, many years before you found me. And that would be if I wanted you to find me."

"I enjoy a challenge, Mr. Drake." Wayne said with that same maddening smile. "You present none. Now, if you would kindly return to bed. You have school in the morning."

Tim grumbled and returned to that same uncomfortable cot.

* * *

Cy watched his friend enter at breakfast the next morning. Tim's hair was messier than usual, and his grey eyes had dark circles underneath them. He waited until Tim had sat down at the table, then looked carefully at Tim. "You look exhausted."

Tim merely glared at him. Cy shrugged. "Rough night at Wayne's?"

"I'm not here for murder, but by the time I'm done with Wayne, I'll be wanted for it." Tim grumbled, poking his fake scrambled eggs and wondering why everything they served them in this place tasted like rubber. "You ever wonder if they poison this food?"

"It's just tofu eggs." Came Gar's voice as he plopped down his tray next to Cy and sat down, eating eagerly. "They're awesome."

"They're disgusting." Cy said calmly. He stopped poking his food as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the three who had tried to start a fight the day before standing behind him, Jinx folding her arms.

"I thought you said we could have our table back." She jerked her thumb at Gar. "Because of him."

Cy shrugged and grinned. "Well...I lied. I do that." He watched Jinx frown horribly, then Manfred crack his knuckles as if readying for pounding someone. "However, Jinx, you are welcome to join us." Cy smirked at Manfred, showing him that he could more than take him. Intimidation was not a problem.

Jinx moved away from her group and stood next to Cy, slightly taller than him at the moment because he was sitting down. Her face was inches away from his as she glared at him. "Liars shouldn't compete with the queen of lieing. When you least expect it, you'll get your own."

He smirked. "I've been getting my own for years."

Jinx's slap against his cheek was resounding, and as the three stalked away, the hacker massaged his dark cheek. Tim grinned, his spirits obviously lifted by the encounter. "So, this girl got something for you, or is it the other way around?"

"Neither." Cyborg replied, returning to poking his food. "I just like messing with her. However, Gar has something for..."

"Shut it, Cy." Gar said in a warning growl and Terra passed behind him, laughing and giggling with a group of girls. Cyborg laughed and watched as Gar immeadiately changed the subject. "So where's that Roth girl?"

Tim shrugged, but his mind had been on the same thing. She seemed interesting, this Raven. What was she in for? She seemed even less friendly than most of the people around Juvenile Hall. With the fact that he no longer stayed in the same boarding house as the rest of the delinquets, he had less chance to see her...but it also meant less time to hang out with Kory. That girl had followed Tim around the first night, talking to him incessantly. She was too annoying.

He saw Raven walking not far away with a tray of food and flagged her down. She approached hesitantly, then sat down opposite Tim, on the other side of Cy. She seemed to be as preoccupied with poking her food as everyone else. Cy turned to her, trying to think of something to engage the quiet girl in conversation.

"I didn't see you last night."

"They were confisticating my knife."

Tim raised his eyebrows. "How did you manage to get that through the metal detectors?"

"It's made of plexiglass." Raven had moved on to trying to butter the stone cold, hard-as-a-rock biscuit. "They actually searched my bag last night."

"They search all of us on entering." Gar said thoughtfully. "You mean they searched you an extra time?"

She nodded. All of them stared. Cy whistled and spoke up. "Girl, what did you do?"

Raven paused, eyes trained on the food she hadn't taken a bite of. "I killed my father."


	6. Chapter 6

**DIZTY:** Glad you think so!

**Momiji-momo: **No, Starfire is extremely annoying. So so is Kori.

**Broken Outcast:** Hehehe...I love making my reviewers suffer cliffies.

**Angel Caida: **Bunny on crack, did you say? Is that kind of like bright eyed and bushy tailed, which is a squirrel on crack?

* * *

She knew the thunderous silence that met her statement would last for an eternity, and it would push them all away, which was all the better. Black liquid for a black deed and a black heart. And the Law of Three had held her responsible. Her penance for the death of another was clear: torture of the mind, and the isolation from others. Yet hadn't she always had that, even before the spells, the potions, the preserved belladonna nightshade? Hadn't she---

"You…you killed someone?" The black haired boy named Tim managed to choke out. She only nodded in agreement with his question and tried to chew the indigestible food that had been presented to her. All eyes were still trained on her, she knew. She could feel them burning holes in her skull. Raven waited for someone to say something further, but when it seemed that they had all lost their tongues, she rose from the table to throw the food away and begin preparing for classes. Her footsteps were not loud enough to cover the words of the blond boy as she moved away.

"Well…I always knew there was something creepy about her."

* * *

Tim couldn't concentrate on his Geometry, not that he ever really tried. The teachers normally just told them what to read and what problems to do, and if they didn't do it they didn't get credit for their work. If they didn't do it long enough then they had to repeat their terms in the facility. 

But Tim was a math genius, so normally he didn't have to read. He just looked at a few example problems and the questions solved themselves. Not so today.

He had suspected Raven was a bit off, had perhaps committed worse crimes than the rest of them, but…murder? It had to run deeper than that. Something had to make her want to killher fatherso strongly that she would disregard one of the ultimate sins God had set down. Of course, thievery was on that list too, and Tim had often disregarded that. But murder? As far as he knew, his actions had never killed anyone.

A slip of paper landed on his desk. He opened it and read.

_Tim, _

_Help a bud out. Got answers to this math?_

_---Cy_

He tore off a scrap piece of paper and wrote the reply. The honest truth.

_Nope. I haven't a clue on any of them._

_Why do you think she killed her father?_

_--Tim_

That last sentence had been an afterthought. He hadn't even meant to write it down, it just slipped from his head, through the pencil, and onto the paper. He tapped his eraser against the textbook a few times, waiting for the return slip of paper. It came a few seconds later.

_Not a clue. But if you think she won't go psycho on you, you should ask her._

_---Cy_

And actually, that was just what Tim had planned to do.

It was the first day he had not even attempted a problem on his work. He was sure it wouldn't be his last. Good thing it was the last class of the day, or he might never make it through.

* * *

Tim had been distracted all day, and Cy knew the one thing on his mind. Raven. Tim was one to fall pretty hard for the girls who had it rough. If he didn't watch his step, he was going to fall for a murderer. But Cy had to trust his friend. Tim kept a pretty level head most of the time, and Cy had to think that Tim knew what he was doing, even when his head told him that Tim didn't have the faintest clue. 

Well, since Tim had said he was going to hunt down someone and question them to within an inch of their life, why shouldn't Cy start a search of his own? Not for anything in particular, just for something to do. A fight maybe. A computer. Anything electronic. He hadn't gotten his hands on electronics for days. The sickos here had made sure of that.

They were spoiling all the fun in life.

He didn't have to walk much farther for something to do.

Cy collided headfirst with that brawny boy called Manfred. It knocked both of them backward a step or two, but just resulted in Manfred glaring in Cy's direction and taking this as an excuse to start an argument.

"Watch it, why don't you?"

"Hey, you weren't exactly being cautious either, pal." Cy replied calmly, though he was seething. He was hoping this guy would be the answer to just what he needed—a fight.

Manfred was drawing closer to him as he responded. Cy was a good six feet one, or so, but this guy seemed to tower over him an inch or two. He leaned his face in so his hot breath stinking of rotten food stuck between his molars hit Cy full on.

"I've had about enough of you, smart ass. You stay out of my way, and out of my sight." The hulking figure sidestepped Cy before he could work up a good comeback, but Manfred continued his threats as he walked down the hall. "And stay away from Jinx, too. She doesn't need a lowlife like you."

"Yeah. What she needs is a good swift kick in the—" Cy began grumbling as he walked off into the distance, feeling cheated that he hadn't gotten to fight any. He had so wanted to make that guy's face fold in like a sheet of paper.

He decided to continue his rant, now targeting Jinx. Just because he felt like it. "I can tell you exactly what that girl needs. She needs to stop being so uptight about everything. Actually, a good kick in the—"

"—rear would do her good. It would probably knock some sense into her head. She would probably stop being such a bitch all the time. She would start living." Finished someone for him. He looked around the corner to find Jinx sitting there, examining her nails in a bored manner. Cy was startled that she had been so close the entire time, but just shrugged it off and slid down beside her.

"How did you know I was talking about you?"

"Because you're obsessed with me." Jinx said in a matter of fact tone.

He frowned. "I am not."

She stood and brushed herself off. Her skirt came up too short. He tried to avert his gaze before she could tell he had noticed. "Whatever you say, Victor."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I've gotten some floppies recently and have found a way to make use of my spare time in computer class...write on my stories. So hopefully there will be quicker updates than there have been before. I now bring you...the infamous chapter seven.

**Rugsrat: **(looks embarrassed) Yeah...thanks for pointing that out for me. I was half drugged on cold medication when I wrote the last chapter, and so that was kind of embarrasing for me when you reviewed, but I'm glad you caught me! Keep an eye out for my mistakes, but I'll try not to make so many of them!

**Momiji-momo: **For some reason I've never really liked Starfire, and she never shows up much in my fics. I really don't know if she's going to have much of a role in this one yet or not, as it looks like it's going to be a particularly long venture.

**BrokenOutcast:** Jinx is awesome! And cliffhangers are what I do for fun (and to remind people that life is just one big, cruel, cliffhanger).

**Starlit Moonshadow: **Thankyou!

* * *

Tim walked down the halls and ignored the people shoving him to the side as they made their way toward the exit and the buses that waited for most people. The community service buses. Of course, that black car was probably out there waiting for Tim, but if Wayne was going to be such a total bastard, he was going to make this man work to keep his job. It wouldn't hurt him to look for the teenage boy a bit. Sweat a little. Maybe even make Wayne's superior officer ask where Tim was.

Tim chuckled a little and then focused back on what he was doing. He was supposed to be finding Raven, having a talk with her, figuring out what her problem was, exactly…and even though he knew it was wrong to be thinking of how he could use her, the voice in the back of his mind also whispered that he should measure her skills so he could continue formulating a plan to get a few of them out of there. If they all worked together, he figured he get out a maximum of ten, but there wouldn't even be that many. Cy, Gar, himself…and Raven, if she wanted to go and could contribute.

Kori would definitely have to stay behind. Besides being a nuisance, if they tried to drag her along she would either blab to her father or they would be charged with breakout and kidnapping. She was John Anders' daughter, after all.

Tim turned a corner and the flow of students slowed. The passageway led to the gym, which they got to use three times a week for an hour, more heavily supervised then than ever. It only contained a couple of old basketball hoops and some deflated balls, but it was a wide cavern of a space…and with about thirty or forty kids in there, guards could get distracted easily, and someone could go missing.

If Tim had to guess, Raven would have neither boarded the bus nor been left behind in any of the classrooms to finish work or be tutored in a particularly hard subject. She seemed like the type that could make it on her own without help. But there was a library in this place—hardly used, books battered, dusty, and the librarian was a mean dog-faced, tight-lipped snip of a woman who barked out at you fiercely if she was even there at all. Rumor was she had a drinking problem and holed up in her office to get smashed as often as possible.

He continued past the gym, amazed he hadn't been stopped so far, then turned right to go down another corridor that led toward the library. Left, right, another left. He padded quietly, ears alert for any signs of life besides himself. Tim caught himself freezing and almost swearing aloud as he heard voices behind him.

"—last seen in his math class, first to leave. A couple of kids claim to have spotted him in the locker hall, but everyone's in there, and there's other kids that look like him. Dark hair, gray eyes, lanky, medium height…that's normal description."

"Nevertheless, this kid is easily recognizable. Half the fallouts and druggies that run through this place don't have a gleam of intelligence in their eye. I could spot him a mile off." That voice was Wayne. Tim glanced around him, measuring their distance. They had to be about a hundred yards off, just in the middle of the other hallway.

He saw his salvation in the open door of an abandoned broom closet and slipped inside, carefully pulling the door to and listening cautiously, his diaphragm barely raising as he let himself inhale and exhale without hardly making a sound. He could see their elongated shadows coming down the hallway, and the man that was with Wayne began to speak again.

"Are you sure you didn't wait long enough for him at the car? He could be outside."

"Trust me, Travis. If he had been coming, I would have known it. This kid is smart, but predictable. You could tell in his mannerisms this morning that he was going to try something. We need to check all the rooms, all the corridors."

"Any idea where he would have gone?"

"Report says that his associates had already left. Victor Stone and Garfield Logan have already boarded the bus, and Kori Anders is back at the institution. She's home schooled. That leaves Raven Roth, who is also missing. We find her, and I believe we'll find Mr. Drake."

The one Wayne had referred to as Travis seemed to stop in mid-step, causing Wayne to stop just outside of Tim's door. Tim carefully stepped further back and looked to see if there was anywhere to hide in the place, an ear still to the conversation.

"Roth? She's a recluse. Didn't realize she had any friends here."

"Security tapes have caught her talking with Mr. Drake's little gathering more than once. You'd be surprised what kids will group together in these situations. Even the quiet ones sometimes seek out company."

Tim had seen a custodial storage room behind a broom and a mop, barely enough room for someone his size to squeeze through. He moved the tools carefully, making the noisiest moves as the men picked up conversation again.

"Well, they always say the quiet ones snap first. Maybe that means they seek out company once they snap." Travis commented.

"You think Roth has snapped?"

The man chuckled, as if ready to share a dark bit of gossip. "You don't know what she's in for?"

"I do, but a good lawyer could argue her case as self-defense. Seeing as her mother wanted to press charges against her, she didn't have a good lawyer." Tim straightened in his efforts. He knew he should be applying slow, steady pressure to open the old wooden door quietly, but the men were speaking on just the conversation he was going to have with Raven.

"What, murdering her father? Bruce, there are organizations all over the place against domestic violence."

"Sometimes it's not that easy." Wayne's voice moved farther away as he turned. "We're getting off topic. Every moment we waste is a moment we give to the boy."

"There's plenty of classrooms on this floor, but all lock automatically behind the students. It takes a teacher to get in, with the proper ID code."

"His best friend is a computer genius. You'd be surprised what those two is capable of. I've read his file." Something about sent a chill down Tim's back as he listened to his "mentor". How much did Wayne know about him? It was if the man was able to watch him twenty-four hours a day, knew all of his friends, acquaintances...if the man knew as much as he seemed to demonstrate, Tim would have a harder time getting out of Gotham Juvenile Hall than he thought.

He had the door about three-fourths of the way open. Almost enough to squeeze through, but not quite. Starting to apply more pressure, he cursed slightly under his breath as the mop fell from where he had propped it against the wall and hit his foot. Toe aching, he listened to see whether Wayne had heard him, ready to struggle into the opening if need be.

The door knob began to turn, and Tim slipped half of himself into the storage room, but got stuck as his broadening shoulders tried the squeeze between the gap. Knowing he was probably caught right then and there, Tim held his breath and waited for the acclamation of discovery, but instead he heard something different.

"Wayne, really! A broom closet? As much credit as you give this Drake kid, and you expect him to hide somewhere as obvious as that?"

"Sometimes the obvious can lead to oblivious." Wayne said profoundly, but Tim could hear what sounded like Travis slapping Wayne on the back in a friendly manner.

"Come, come, Wayne. The boy couldn't be there. Let's have a look for both the missing Drake and Roth in some other place."

He thought he heard Wayne let out a disgruntled growl, but two sets of footsteps faded out into the distance. Tim let out a sigh of relief, then set about trying to free himself from his current predicament. After two or three times pulling his weight back to free his shoulders, he flew back and tripped over the mop bucket, rocketing the door open and falling to the floor with a loud _thud._ A girl with short, dark hair looked down at him, eyebrows raised and amethyst eyes glaring from her pale skin.

"Smooth." She said in such a deadpanned, flat voice that Tim felt himself redden. "What were you doing, trying acrobatics in the broom closet?"

Tim mumbled something that sounded like 'shut up' and brushed himself off, looking down the hall in the direction Wayne and Travis had taken. Had they heard the noise? For all his care, he had just made enough racket to wake the dead. But after several seconds of waiting for someone to come running, he decided he hadn't been heard.

He straightened and looked at Raven. "So, what are you doing here?"

She held up a copy of Edgar Allen Poe (The Complete Works). "I had to get something decent to read...although I don't know why I'm explaining myself to an illiterate who randomly decides to fall out of custodial storage rooms."

Tim pulled a disgusted face. "Can you go one minute without insulting someone?"

"My record is five." She said with a twisted smirk, and he had to give a grin...if only a small smirk. They began walking in the opposite direction of the two teacher's. "Return question, then. What are you doing here?"

"Escaping."

She nodded as if she understood completely without any explanation. "I suppose living with Mr. Wayne would get a bit tedious." She smirked when she saw him stop and gape at her. "He's one of the wealthiest contributors to this city, you got into an expensive vehicle yesterday, and you arrived this morning looking like you had just been groomed by a drill sergeant. I can put two and two together...that, and I overheard the conversation that he and Travis Long were having in the hallway about ten minutes ago. I suppose that's why you were in the closet." He nodded and her smirk broadened. He cleared his throat and tried to find a way to get back on topic...well, the one he had been trying to find her with.

"So...I...um...I guess you weren't joking when you said you killed your father."

"No, I guess I wasn't."

"Oh." He watched his feet for a while. His Chuck Taylor's were scuffed up compared to her suede boots, black in color. "You'd think they'd have us under tighter security, what with murdering, stealing, hacking..."

"They do and know more than they let on." Raven said confidently. "But they are ignorant of some things."

He turned to regard her quizzically with his grey eyes. "Like about what?"

"Like about the fact that this institution was built in 1763 as a Catholic church, and since at the time Catholics were frowned upon, there are four documented safety rooms and three documented escape passageways. Those have been blocked. I've found some that are undocumented.

Tim felt himself starting to grin. This girl was brilliant. He turned to her. "Show me."

* * *

Gar found himself wandering the halls. Okay, so he wasn't wandering exactly, but he wasn't _stalking _her either. He was just finding himself drawn to her voice which was constantly moving farther away while he still managed to stay out of sight. Sort of like those siren-thingies that he had had to read about in English the year they read about that stupid Odysseus guy. But it wasn't stalking.

Not really.

He thought about the time he and Terra had met. She had been the criminal first…sort of. She was a constant runaway and stole things to survive, so he never really considered it criminal acts…just survival. But at one point she had climbed through his bedroom window at his foster parent's house and asked to hide out there from the cops. She had to spend the night in his attached bathroom's tub so his foster parents wouldn't find her, but she stayed for about four days before disappearing.

_And despite my obvious good looks and comedic talents—_He thought with a mental sigh. _She was the closest thing to a real friend I ever had._

Suddenly he found himself running into the blonde and hitting solid ground just as quickly. So much for being undetected. Terra tried to suppress a giggle and reached out a hand to help him up.

"Here, Gar. See you're still clumsy." He didn't respond at first, noticing that the people she had been talking to appeared to be missing. Had he been imagining the voices that had surrounded her for a time?

Her next sentence proved he hadn't. "My friends ditched me to go harass those older juvies. Wanna hang?"

He felt his face reddened, and ran his fingers nervously through his blond hair. His green eyes met her blue shyly. "Um…sure."

"Cool." Terra smiled and giggled again, and he felt himself blushing more fiercely, though he didn't know why. They started walking down the hallway.

"So…what's been up with you?" He tried to start a conversation, but this was the least lame thing he could come up with to say, and it still sounded dumb as the sounds hit the air. She didn't seem to notice. Terra shrugged and started to respond.

"I've been around. Got caught trying to rob a few ATMs with some people I hooked up with, and landed myself here. You?"

"Foster parents sent me back to the orphanage."

She pulled a face. "I never liked them much. But what got you in this dump?"

He smirked a little, never getting tired of explaining it, even though he had only just told everyone the other day in 'group therapy' Terra wasn't in that class with him. "I tried to free the animals from the zoo."

She laughed. He liked her laugh. It was pure, like bells. "Did you?"

"No. I fell into the bear cage and got stuck." He smiled and blushed some more when she giggled and responded.

"I'm surprised the bear didn't eat you alive."

He puffed out his chest and tried to look taller, tougher. "Yeah…well, you know me. I held it off until they could come and get me out."

"You ran into a corner and climbed into the narrowest space you could find, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Even if he knew she was mocking him…this wasn't completely bad.


End file.
